Netanyahu promised this week to return and promote the judicial reform, making the first topic for discussion restraining the argument from reasonableness (sevirut). The judges in Israel have developed a so-called argument from reasonableness that allows them to reverse any law or any government decision that they find to be unreasonable. This is an approach that is not followed in any other judicial system in the whole world.
And behold: storm and consternation. Lapid and Gantz are up in arms. The media is mobilizing itself to reinstate the Balfour Declaration in the headlines. Threats abound about a crumbling economy, a rise in the dollar, a stock market crash, clashes with the U.S. and a cold shoulder from Biden towards Netanyahu. Chaos and bedlam.
And then we stop and try to make order of the disorder. Netanyahu has no plans to instate the entire judicial reform. The committee for appointing judges will continue as in the past, with a leftist majority, based on the results of the current vote to the Israel Bar Association. Incidentally, there is no other state in which the attorneys participate in choosing judges. This is a clear conflict of interests, making the judges beholden to the attorneys who appear before them.
The only thing on the agenda is the argument from reasonableness which even top jurists, including High Court judges themselves, agree that it is a deviation from any judicial norm. It is doubtful that there exists any other country where the judges are those who determine what constitutes 'reasonableness.'
The majority of the Knesset can decide what they deem to be altogether reasonable while three judges sit and decide that they think that the decision is not — and thus are able to reject it. Is there anything less reasonable than that?
Whoever considers a limitation of the argument from reasonableness as the end of democracy is no less than an inciter, agitator and liar. Even without all the other parts of the judicial reform, we should have long ago abolished the judges' power to determining what is 'reasonable' or not. This topic does not interest any legislative textbook in the Western world. There is no reason why what the judges deem to be 'reasonable' should be more than what falafel kiosks think is right.
All of this has no connection of the revolution and everyone knows this. But under the protection of the demonstrators and mouth-shutters, every deviation on the part of Netanyahu from the dictates of the Opposition evokes an overblown reaction. Everyone knows that the prime minister has long since given up on the idea of the judicial reform and all of his efforts are concentrated on pacifying the Minister of Justice and through him, also the Likud supporters who, according to the surveys, are fleeing from the party ranks out of disappointment over the lack of his carrying out pre-election promises.
However, the Left is afraid of losing the momentum which is now in their favor. They are therefore prepared to cause a blow to the economy, to international disfavor, the army and the society at large, even if according to their views, no good can arise from this.
